Abstract
Sjögren syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease that affects exocrine glands including salivary and lacrimal glands. Recently, autoantibodies against muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M3 (M3R) have been detected in the serum from 9–100% of patients with SS in addition to anti-SS-A and anti-SS-B antibodies. These observations propose the possibility that anti-M3R antibodies can serve as a new diagnostic test in patients with SS. Some of anti-M3R antibodies are directly responsible for salivary underproduction in patients with SS. Thus, the strategies designed to eliminate such pathogenic antibodies could help provide a cure to people with SS. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge of anti-M3R autoantibodies in patients with SS and the correlation between B-cell epitopes and the function of anti-M3R antibodies.
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